The Worry Wart and His Dumbass
by Fall Risk the Trash Panda
Summary: Rick worries about Drew. Slice of life fic, nothing serious. Rated T just for language. I do not own any rights to Night Shift. This is just for fun.


**The Worry Wart and His Dumbass**

Rick worries about Drew. Slice of life fic, nothing serious.

-line-

"Hey, Rick… you alright?" Robert said, looking over to his fellow officer and partner. The two of them were working on progress reports of their latest recruit class for the training academy. It was mind numbing and tedious but had to be done and made for a relatively easy Saturday shift. Except, clearly, Rick did not want to be there. The young man sat, shoulders tense, face set, glancing at his phone every thirty seconds, and his good leg tapping nervously. Robert, a veteran officer, had seen this look on the younger man before, and knew it only meant one thing; he was worried.

Rick startled, snapping back from his thoughts as he looked over to his friend. He shifted, embarrassed, as he realized he was caught brooding, and looked at the paperwork he was supposed to be doing. "I'm fine," he mumbled, clearly not.

Robert chuckled, shaking his head as he returned to his own paperwork. "A thousand yard stare? Distracted behavior? That your definition of fine?" Rick snorted in reply.

"Okay then…" Robert smirked. He couldn't help but be amused by the other and his moodiness. The former Army Ranger turned SWAT lead and instructor was always calm, cool, and collected; a master of keeping a blank face. He was one of the most laid back people Robert had ever met, except when it came to one thing. Well, more like one person.

"There's nothing wrong," Rick grumbled.

"Uh huh…"

"Really. I'm fine.

"So what's Drew doing today?" Robert said teasingly.

A resigned sigh came from the other as he shifted again, "He has a match today. It's some charity fundraiser the Army and Airforce are doing and his unit volunteered him for a MMA match ..."

"Oh, sounds like fun," Robert commented, but he wondered why Rick rolled his shoulders.

"Yeah…" Rick grumbled, adding to Robert's confusion. Something about the match was bothering the other, and like any good partner, he wanted to find out what and why. If he happened to annoy Rick in the process, well that was by _pure _accident.

"Is this a local match?" Robert asked.

"Yeah. It's on base," Rick mumbled in reply.

"So...you're upset that you're stuck here?"

"I'm not upset!" Rick snapped.

"Right…"

Rick sighed. "I'm not upset," Rick said again, still defensively but without the snap.

"So worried?" Robert continued, knowing he was pressing the other.

"No."

"Rick, you've been staring at your phone more than the computer."

"Alright...maybe a little..." Rick mumbled. He was getting disgruntled now.

"Just a little?"

Rick just grunted in reply, now attempting to ignore the other. He wasn't getting off that easily, however. Robert was an export negotiator and interrogator, he had four teenagers at home and could get them to talk. Rick was easy.

"So...what's worrying you?" Robert asked.

"I'm not…" Rick started again, but the protest died when he saw the look the other officer was giving him. "He's fighting," Rick admitted, sulking.

"Like, the MMA stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't he, like, an instructor or something?"

"A coach."

"Which means he's pretty good in the ring right?"

"I guess…" Rick replied, his tone sharp.

Robert's mouth twitched at the corners. "So… is his opponent in a different weight class?"

"No."

"Is he out of practice?"

"No."

Robert looked at him, finding it even harder to control his laughter. Especially when he saw, what he would consider, the other man pouting. "Help me out, buddy… I'm confused. Drew's been doing the MMA stuff for years right? He's actually a pretty good fighter?"

Rick sighed, clearly even more annoyed, "he's been doing martial arts since he was a kid. And yes, he's good at it."

"And this fight, it's sanctioned? Supervised and official?"

"Yes."

"So, medical personnel are there and it's a friendly match and all? All in good fun?"

Rick was glaring at Robert now, clearly unamused. "Are you trying to make a point Rob?" He asked, just shy of snippy.

"I'm just trying to figure out what you're worried about?"

"I hate it when he fights," Rick admitted, clearly not happy.

"Because...it's dangerous?" Robert asked, not able to keep the chuckle from his voice. Of all the things that Drew and Rick did between their careers, the Army and the recreational activities, he found it hilarious that Rick was worried about a highly regulated fight. He almost lost the last of him composure when Rick seemingly blushed.

"That's not… no…" he grumbled, squirming.

"So it's not dangerous but you're worried because he could get hurt?" Rick glared at him and he couldn't hold his laughter in any longer.

Rick threw his pen at Robert, which was wholly unsatisfying despite hitting the other on the forehead. "Shut it Rob," he grumbled.

"Ah… come on… you hate watching your husband fight? That wouldn't be… I don't know… exciting?" Robert teased, heckling the other good naturedly.

Rick blushed again and shrunk a little. Truth be told, watching Drew train or in the ring was very much a turn on, at least until he was being beaten about the torso and head by his opponent. "I don't like watching my husband get punched in the face. I don't find him getting hurt exciting," Rick answered dryly, causing Robert to sober some.

"Ah… I didn't think of it like that."

"Yeah…" Rick sighed leaning back in his chair. "And before you ask, the fight is going on now so yes… I'm distracted."

Robert shook his head, still amused, but he decided it was best to leave Rick alone for now. There was only so much teasing you could dish out before you went from being a jerk to being an asshole. As for Rick, he continued on with his worrying, tapping his leg and glancing at his phone. It was a wonder that he was even managing to get any work done. This went on for about forty five minutes before Rick's phone finally rang. Robert didn't even think he heard the first note of the ring tone before Rick had answered it and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud

"Hey! Drew?" Rick answered, sounding excited and a little anxious.

"Hey! Put him on speaker!" Robert called, teasingly. Rick just waved him off, a frown on his face.

"Hey...Yeah..." Rick said, sounding both worried and disappointed. Clearly it was not Drew on the other end of the call. "What happened in the match? ...uh huh…"

"Did he win?" Robert called after a lengthy pause but Rick ignored him.

"...So he's got to get an x-ray?" Rick asked, and he looked exasperated. Robert's eyes widened at the mention of an X-ray, understanding Rick's earlier worry a little better now. "Yeah… okay… alright…sure. Thanks Javy," and with that, Rick hung up the phone, his expression one of annoyance and exasperation.

Robert watched him a moment, now a little concerned, but also extremely curious. "Well? What happened? Drew needs an x-ray?"

Rick sighed, "Yeah. To rule out a broken jaw."

Robert flinched, that did not sound good. "So I take it he lost?"

"Oh, no, he won. Despite getting hit hard enough across his jaw to feel it crack in the first round…" Rick grumbled, clearly unhappy.

Robert shook his head, laughing quietly. "Did Javy give you any clue how bad it is?"

"No. Just said it was a precaution… but he's not supposed to fight with a potential head injury," Rick sighed, clearly frustrated, "Especially with his history of a skull fracture and concussion."

"I mean it's just a crack to the jaw…" Robert said, attempting to pacify the other, at least a little.

"Which is attached to his face, and his face is attached to his head," Rick almost growled in reply, so clearly pacifying him wasn't an option.

"Well… hopefully it is… but I guess that's why he's getting an x-ray," Robert teased. Rick glared at him for a long hard minuet making him laugh. When he was finally able to regain enough composure to talk, he said "look, you know he's fine."

"Yeah, I do. I'll know for sure in about twenty minutes though," Rick grumbled going back to work.

"Yeah? How that? Telepathy?"

"Because the dumb ass is going to call me after the x-ray," Rick grumbled, "and if he doesn't, I'm gonna kill him."

Robert laughed and shook his head going back to his own work. The two once again fell into an easy silence as they both focused on their reports. Rick would occasionally look over to his phone, but he had stopped twitching. It still amused Robert to no end, that fierce protective streak his friend had for his husband but he guessed it made sense. After all, he wouldn't know exactly what he would be like if his wife had been a POW. Slowly, twenty five minutes passed, and like he had been told, RIck's phone rang.

With in a second, Rick answered it. "Drew?" he said, tone neutral, but that forced kind of neutral. The kind that was used when one was clearly attempting to reserve judgment and failing.

"I'm fine," were the first words out of the doctor's mouth and Robert smiled because Rick had, most likely, accidently hit the speaker button. He hoped the other didn't notice.

"Uh huh… so why'd you need an x-ray?" Rick said, and his tone was no longer neutral.

Drew laughed, "because I got hit in the face. But it was cautionary and I'm fine. Nothing broken, no head injuries."

"Wait… head injuries? Why were they testing you for a head injury?"

"Relax ya old worry wart. X-ray was negative-" Drew started.

It was now that Rick realized the phone was on speaker and fixed it before continuing the conversation. "X-rays don't tell you about concussions," he accused and was then silent for a moment, the expression on his face, however, spoke volumes. "… Jvay said you just took a blow to the jaw. But you got hit in the head?" There was another intense moment of silence, and Rick looked like he was going to start blowing smoke. "So you got hit in the head too? … oh… so your whole face… no I don't want to see the video…" Rick grumbled, clearly angry, "so is the reason you're not concussed cause you don't have a brain?"

Robert could hear Drew laugh even with the phone pressed to Rick's ear. Whatever the words were that followed that laugh, however, did a complete one eighty to his temper and he went from furious to blushing. Robert snickered as his friend quickly turned his back to him. "...You're a jerk and a dumbass..." he said, but there was no more tension in his voice. No more worry. "Yeah… I'm glad you won and I'm proud of you…. Yes. You're still a dumbass…. Sunny's? Okay, what time? ...yeah, that's fine. I'm almost done here… who's here? Just Robby…" hearing his name made Robert perk up and he looked over to his friend. "Hang on a sec, I'll ask…" Rick turned back to look at him, "want to got to Sunny's with us? It's gonna be a couple guys from Drew's unit and the hospital. They're meeting there in like twenty."

Robert smiled, "that sounds good. Let me just check with the wife, but count me in."

Rick returned the smile and returned to talking to Drew, "yeah. Sounds good. See ya soon...dumbass…"

Robert shook his head, still highly amused by the worry wart and his dumbass.


End file.
